Katy’s Weblog*
blogging toward an independent studyConfidence boost!
I am now feeling a bit more confident about my Independent Study. I feel as though it is coming together well and as planned. I still have a lot of editing and finishing up to do, but that is all just a part of the process. I have enjoyed studying ‘Congruence’ and have found Carl Rogers’ work very interesting, informative and inspirational. I feel lucky to have studied the life and work of such an intelligent, fascinating man.
Feeling a little anxious!
I knew this would happen, as it always does, but I am now in panick mode! I think the best thing to do is to plan a week by week guide as to how I am going to fit in and achieve all of my aims and objectives for my work. A biography I ordered 3 weeks ago has arrived though on the life and work of Carl Rogers so I feel a bit better about that as it is an essential read for my study! But I’ll keep going, not long now!…
Writing…
After deciding to concentrate purely on the Person-centred approach, I have been busy studying further into it. Even though I started to write my dissertation a while back, I am not happy with what I have written so far as it did not really coincide with my new plan. I have thereofre started writing again from scratch! Which has been quite an anxious experience! I feel a lot more confident and positive about my writing however as my new plan seems to be working for me. Just need to really get my head down with it now!
Message for ‘Judy’
Hi Judy, I have just received your comment on my blog. I would first and foremost like to thank you for adding such a pleasurable comment on my blog! You are the first to add anything apart from lecturers so it’s very touching. I am honoured that you have found my thoughts interesting, I must admit they have been rather basic and brief! I just use my blog as a kind of note to myself really on what I have read, yet to read and any other additional info. If it has been of any help to you however, then that makes me feel very happy. There are a few books which I can definitely recommend if you are interested in the person-centred approach to therapy. Firstly, I am sure you have already come across this person, but anything ranging within the works of Carl Rogers is really a good place to start. He is one of the first therapists to have encountered and written about the core conditions. I recommend ‘On Becoming a Person’ by Rogers, ‘The Carl Rogers Reader’and ‘Beyond Carl Rogers’, which are both edited books. I have also just read a book by Brian Thorne ‘Carl Rogers’ (1992) which included criticisms on Rogers’ work. That might be better to read a little bit later though after you have beome more familiar with the core conditions. I am finding it a really interesting area and am enoying studying ‘congruence’; one of the core conditions. I also recommend looking at Mearns & Thorne, Lietaer, Tony Merry. I have not contacted you by email as I didn’t want to invade your privacy and also, this is a positive little addition for my blog! So thank you! All the best
Still to study
I have made a list of some key texts, which I still have yet to study. I have just started reading a book by Brian Torne which focuses on some of his criticisms about Rogers’ work. It is an essential read as the book consists of a collection of all of the main approaches used by Rogers; such as thoughts about ‘The Actualizing Tendency’ and ‘The Core Conditions’, which includes information about congruence. I am also going to look at Winnicott, who also talks more about the concept of incongruence. I also intend to study some of Rogers’ biographies which Paul Wilkins advised to read written by Kirschenbaum. I need to get the most recent of these however on library loan, which could take up to a month! These are just a few of the studys I hope to look at, as well as other’s such as more work be Lietaer, McLeod (2003) and West who focuses on the concept of ‘presence’.
Seventh meeting (Thursday 19th February)
I had another meeting with Annette again today. We met to basically discuss and get up to date with what I had been doing so far. I told Annette that I was getting on ok, but. After planning with Annette in our former meeting about studying the Psychodynamic approah to therapy, the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist’s approach, the Person-centred and also looking into Buddhism, I began to notice that I was starting to feel panicked. I understand that this feeling must start to kick in around this time with everyone in their final year at some point, but thinking that I only have 2 months left really made me feel anxious! Luckily, when I explained my worries to Annette, she couldn’t recall or believe we had agreed to focus upon so many topics! So we decided to have a brainstorm of the concepts I had found most significant so far and I expressed how I was really enjoying studying the Percon-centred approach. I also told Annette how I really enjoyed the literature by Carl Rogers. We therefore, decided that it would be sensible to stick to these areas of interest, which made me feel extremely relieved! So, all being well, my refreshed plan is to… 1.) Study the definition of congruence from the perspective of Carl Rogers. 2.) Study the views of other therpist’s within the person-centred approachh and state the similarities and contrasting views that differentiate from Rogers’. 3.) To add in my own critique about the two aspects above. Even though this might seem like common sense and that maybe this should have been the first approach to take in the first place, I have realised that keeping my study structure simple will in the long-run, be most effective and clear. Even though I still feel a bit anxious at the minute that I hadn’t yet until now found a precise structure, I believe that all of this has been a learning curve and hopefully, will be a sucessful one! I now feel confident within the next two weeks to start really getting my head down with my writing.
January 09
I realise I have not written anything here for a while, mostly due to Christmas illness and getting back into the swing of things. After experiencing a hectic break which mainly consisted of getting better and hospital trips after both grandparents were admitted! I managed to produce a draught for Annette to read to the first part of my Independent Study. The feedback I have received has been positive and helpful. I am now currently trying to maintain regularly reading and writing , although I must admit I am having a bit of trouble trying to find any literature on Buddhism, so if anybody has any ideas I would be most grateful. I am going to study the work of the del lei lama as a start and hopefully build from there. I will post again soon!
Sixth meeting (Thursday 11th December)
I had some thoughts and ideas of what I hoped to include in my dissertation ready to tell Annette. We discussed what I had mainly been focusing on, for exmaple, which therapist’s worked I had looked at and was influenced by and the area in which I was interested in the most. I explained how I had largeley been focusing on the Person-centred approach in therapy. This allowed us to think whether it would be interesting to focus just on congruence within the person-centred approach, I felt happy and interested about this idea. Annette however explained that I would also have to look into other therpaeutic environments to meaure the account of congruence in them. For example, Annette advised me to look into Budhism, the Psychodynamic approach and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). I felt excited and intrigued by this as I have never studied Budhism before or indeed any of the other approaches. It will be interesting to see if they include or refer to congruence within them and to explore the similarities and differenes in relation to the Person-centred. At this stage then, I will not be focusing on congruence outside the therapist environment, partly because Annette explained that there is not really much relevance to congruence outside therapy as it is a major aspect within the therapeutic field.
Potential Independent Study layout…
I have been weighting up the areas I wish to currently cover in my study and have given myself rough estimations on the word-count on sections etc. Next time I meet with Annette I am going to run past my layout with her to get a second opinion, but so far (roughly)… 1, 000 words = description of study, introductory chapter etc. 10,000 words = main body/ series of chapters including (congruence and incongruence within the therapeutic field, congruence and incongruence outside therapy) 1, 000 words = concluding chapter, my connection with study/ areas of significance, what the study has brought to the literature and how it has had effect on me etc.
Areas to include in my study… (so far)
The history of congruence, the concept of congreunce in the therapeutic field and outside the therapeutic field. The notion of incongruence, the significance of congruence as a core condition and the influence of the other conditions, criticisms, terms related/ mistaken for congruence,
Katy's Weblog* 